There’s a baby boom for city flats

A growing number of fifty- and sixtysomethings are rejecting the idea of retiring to the country and heading to town instead

George and Violeta Brownett at their two-bedroom Bristol flat (Adrian Sherratt)
George Brownett had lived in the country all his life — until recently, that
is. His two grown-up sons had left home, and the extra bedrooms were sitting
empty, so he decided to sell his four-bedroom cottage near Yeovil, in
Somerset, which he has owned for the past 28 years, and downsize.

But to what — a smaller cottage? Not likely. Three months ago, the 53-year-old
and his wife, Violeta, 47, paid £485,000 for a high-spec two-bedroom
new-build flat in the Crescent development, near the harbour, slap-bang in
the heart of Bristol.

“It’s unbelievable — like being on holiday all the time. Bristol has such a
vibrant scene,” says Brownett, the director of Yed Technologies, an avionics
company. “We’re right in the heart of the city. We hardly ever need to use
the car — I can walk to work — so we have thought of selling it altogether.